by Alan Baxter
‘How is young Joseph?’ Lorenzo asked lazily, doing nothing to conceal the fact that he wasn’t vaguely interested in the answer.
‘He is well, thank you.’
‘And why has he sent you here?’
Silhouette took a deep breath. ‘We actually come of our own volition.’
‘Oh?’
‘We would request your assistance, Clan Lord.’
Lorenzo flapped one hand at her. ‘Forget the formalities, child. Call me Lorenzo. And why have you brought your pet?’
Alex bit down the surge of rage that pulsed through him. It wasn’t his, not his offence, but Uthentia trying to goad him into acting on an anger he didn’t own.
‘Not my pet, Lorenzo. My friend. This is Alex Caine. A human, yes, though only starting to come into his power. But he finds himself in quite a predicament and would ask for your help.’
Lorenzo turned his full attention to Alex for the first time. The ancient Clan Lord’s mind swept over him, probing deeply. Alex kept his wards tight, trying to stay private without seeming rude. Lorenzo smiled. ‘You do have something about you, don’t you, pet.’
Lorenzo’s seeking changed pace, feeling around for the source of power. He touched on the stone and his eyes widened. He sat up sharply. There was no finesse now as he stripped away at Alex’s wards, like a policeman patting down a suspect in a dark alley. His mind stopped at the book in Alex’s jacket and sudden intense motion swamped Alex’s senses. He lifted and flew back, hitting the stone ground with a breath-shattering impact, sliding several metres. Lorenzo stood among cushions, his eyes flashing fury. ‘How dare you bring that into my Den?’ he roared.
Alex raised both hands, staying down, vulnerable as a flipped turtle. ‘Please, I’m so sorry, but I can’t help it. I need your help to be rid of it.’ People moved, gathering around him, ready to pounce the moment Lorenzo gave the word.
‘You don’t get rid of it.’ Lorenzo’s voice was dangerously low. ‘It’s the price we paid a long time ago, before even my time, to be safe.’
‘Please,’ Alex begged. ‘I believe I can be rid of it, but I need your help to find the last piece of the Darak.’
‘The last piece?’
Alex pulled the stone on its cord from his shirt, held it up. ‘I have two pieces already.’
Lorenzo bent close. Alex hadn’t even seen him move. ‘Just what are you doing, human?’
‘When it’s whole I’ll have enough power to break free from this book.’
Lorenzo was mystified. ‘You really believe that?’
‘I do.’
‘A book now, is it? I’d heard that, but it’s been a long time since I bothered to follow the movements of that thing.’ He straightened, returned to his cushions. ‘You can’t be rid of it, human. Who knows how much damage you’ll cause before it kills you now you’ve bonded with that stone.’
‘I’m learning to use the stone. I can control it.’
Lorenzo tipped his head back and laughed. ‘No you can’t. No one can. Nothing can. I would annihilate you and take that stone for myself if I could, but that would only risk the book latching onto someone here, even me, perhaps. You’re lucky. That’s the only thing stopping me from destroying you right now.’
Alex cautiously stood, returned to Silhouette’s side. At least he wouldn’t be killed outright here. He did see the twisted irony in the situation. ‘Will you help me? I need to know where to find the last shard.’
‘Those pieces were scattered far and wide for a reason. Why would I help you restore it?’
‘I can be free.’
‘So what? What do I care whether you’re free or not? The most powerful Kin mages of the age were unable to banish that thing. What makes you think you could do any better? Death is your only freedom.
‘What selfish human weakness you show. You want to be free at whatever cost? Imagine, for a moment, that you could be. Then what? It moves on to someone else and the cycle is repeated, as it has done for centuries. It’s going to happen. Why would I make it occur any faster? You hold incredible power already. With the Darak complete you could be a new destroyer of worlds. The risk is too great.’
Alex clenched his fists in frustration, binding his mind down tight against thoughts that threatened to betray him. ‘I have a plan,’ he said, ‘but I need power. I need the Darak.’
Lorenzo just laughed, shaking his head.
‘You could benefit from this,’ Alex said.
‘Really? What would you have to offer that I couldn’t just take?’
Alex took a deep breath before speaking again. ‘Assuming I can’t defeat this thing, and I die like you suggest.’
‘Which you will.’
‘Then I would be dead, and the Darak would be whole and there for the taking by whoever happened to be nearby. That could be you.’ Silhouette flinched beside him.
‘You think I haven’t thought of that?’ Lorenzo tapped the side of his head. ‘This mind is very old, human. Very wise. Don’t presume to out-think me. Your plan bears the same flaw I mentioned earlier. The same reason I won’t kill you and take the stone now. The book would immediately latch onto someone else. That’s something even I won’t tangle with.’
Lorenzo flicked one hand, dismissive. ‘Enough. You’re talking in circles, human. You’re a child in an adult’s game and you have no idea what you’re about. You’re doomed. That’s the way it is. That’s the settlement the Kin mages came to all that time ago. It is inevitable.’
Desperate, Alex tried to keep him talking. ‘Is it true the Kin who exiled Uthentia were from here?’
Lorenzo looked bored. ‘A history lesson now?’
‘At least let me know the whole story if I have to die for it.’
‘This happened before my time. Before history,’ Lorenzo said. ‘But yes, it happened here. The battle was mighty and it cracked the stone and nearly destroyed everyone involved but the banishment was done. Mostly. That one sliver of Uthentia’s consciousness managed to hold on. Wherever it is now, it has that one tenuous link to our realm and through that it plays games. Attaches itself to some physical item here, seeps into it and makes it indestructible and unshakeable, and plays. Seems it’s landed a good one with you.’
Alex pressed on while Lorenzo seemed talkative. ‘And the Kin who hid the pieces of the stone came from this Den?’
Lorenzo smiled. ‘You can stop fishing. Yes they did, but what does that tell you? The worst thing that could happen would be for you to find the third piece. Frankly, I’m stunned you’ve managed to come this far. You could be quite something if you weren’t cursed.’
Alex grunted. ‘I’ve heard that before. Why would it be so bad for me to find the third piece?’
‘Oh, so many reasons. One, you would be incredibly powerful and that could be disastrous while you’re under that thing’s influence. Two, there are those who think the stone, if made whole again, could draw Uthentia back to this realm.’
‘That doesn’t make sense, though,’ Alex said. ‘If that was true, surely Uthentia would be using his influence to make people like me find and remake the Darak.’
‘Perhaps. Uthentia is Fey and chaos. We can’t begin to fathom its mind. Even the true Fey treat Uthentia as a god. No one should be able to survive long enough to reunite the pieces. Any that have been cursed by Uthentia in the past haven’t lasted very long at all. You’re something new.’
Alex glanced to Silhouette. ‘We’ve found a way to temper the influence.’
‘Is that right? Well, good for you, you’ve lasted a lot longer than most.’
Alex thought back to Peacock and Welby. It all seemed so long ago. ‘The human who had this book before me hung on to it for a long time. He didn’t seem affected by it.’
‘A Keeper. That thing has been a book before. It’s been a ring, a religious icon, many things. It slips from item to item and often lays dormant with someone of little or no ability, waiting for a worthy victim to come along. Uthentia is eternal. It has p
atience to match.’
What if Uthentia had spent all this time waiting for someone capable of finding the pieces of the stone, re-forming it and releasing Uthentia from exile? Was he being played, coaxed into freeing an abomination that would destroy the world? If the greatest Kin mages had accepted this price, maybe he needed to accept it too. If so, he should die now, before his strength grew. Before he caused any more death and carnage.
‘You begin to accept the hopelessness of your situation, human?’ Lorenzo’s eyes were mocking, but there was a hint of sorrow in his voice.
Alex refused to acknowledge that his life would end here. And what if he did give up? This book would move onto someone else, it would keep killing. Why should he allow that? Ghosts of a plan kept sweeping through his mind and he pushed them away. He didn’t dare to think about them in detail, risk the presence of Uthentia seeing his ideas. Ridiculous though it might seem, such arrogance on his part to assume he could outplay this chaotic god of the Fey, he refused to give up. He was a fighter. That’s what he did, it defined him. He would fight this all the way to the end. ‘I’m not quitting,’ he said, his voice strong.
Lorenzo clapped his hands sarcastically. ‘Bravo. I admire your courage. Don’t give up. But this meeting is at an end. I will not allow you trial by combat for that book would be free in my Den. You’ve survived your visit, now you leave. You’re not welcome here.’ He pointed at Silhouette. ‘You can return, without him, if you like. You are Kin, even if you do seem to choose your pets unwisely.’ He paused, eyes searching Silhouette’s face for a moment. A slight smile tugged his lip for a second then vanished. ‘But for now, you both go,’ he said.
Several people moved in from all sides, their presence insistent. Silhouette stood, signalling to Alex with her eyes. He followed. They were led back to the heavy wooden door and out into the Colosseum plaza. The sunshine and city air were very different from the cool underground conditions of the Den.
Silhouette put her arms around Alex’s neck. ‘I’m so sorry, Alex.’
He shrugged her off. ‘It’s not over yet. I’m going back in.’
‘What?’
‘Lorenzo said the Kin who hid the shards of the stone were from his Den. You said all Dens keep good records. There must be something in there that’ll give me a clue.’
‘But you’re not welcome there. They won’t let you in.’
Alex winked. ‘They won’t even know.’
‘What?’
‘I’m going to need your help. Let’s get somewhere quiet.’
They sat in dappled sunlight in a small park. Silhouette had doubt in her eyes. ‘I don’t know if you’ll be able to pull this off.’
‘I did it on the plane, without even really thinking about it,’ Alex said. ‘You’re Kin and you know me intimately. If I can hide from you, I can hide from them.’
Silhouette was not convinced. ‘Not necessarily. Lorenzo is ancient. So many of the Kin there are far older than me. I might not be such a good litmus test.’
‘You’ll have to do. What other choice do I have?’ He saw her protestations seep away. ‘Okay, so I’m going to lock down. You have to tell me how complete it is.’
Her mind swam over him, watching his physical and magical self in detail. He began constructing shields, starting with the standard tricks to conceal himself from casual magical eyes, drawing in his shades and colours.
‘You look completely mundane again now,’ Silhouette said.
‘Good. That’s the easy part.’ He remembered sitting on the plane, blocking out light itself from touching him. He drew on the power of the Darak and closed himself off from everything. He let light pass right through him, made his shields permeable to everything.
Silhouette laughed, slight shake of the head. ‘You’re gone.’
‘Completely? You can’t see anything?’
‘Not a thing.’
‘Try to crack the wards.’
Her magic crawled over the space he occupied. He closed up tighter still, drawing himself away from anything she might be able to feel. She frowned. ‘Say something, Alex.’
‘Like what.’
She burst into a smile. ‘You’re really still right there?’ She shot one hand out, slapping into his arm. ‘Shit, I thought you were mucking about and you’d snuck away. I honestly can’t see or sense a thing.’
‘Even when you touched me then?’
‘No. That’s a good point. It’s not like an illusion. You stayed invisible to my eyes and mind even when I could feel you with my hand.’
Alex let the guards down, slipped back into view. ‘Well then, that’ll have to be good enough. Let’s go.’
‘Right away?’
‘No time like the present. I don’t want to risk something like that weird bird catching up with us. I feel the need to keep moving.’
A short walk took them back to the Via dei Fori Imperiali, a few hundred metres from the Colosseum. Across from them a smaller road led up to a gelataria and coffee shop, looking directly across at the arena of combat. Alex pointed. ‘Wait for me in there. I’ll be as quick as I can.’
Silhouette held him hard, kissed him passionately. ‘You better make sure you come back to me, Iron Balls.’
‘I will. I promise.’
‘Don’t get dragged into any mischief.’
‘I won’t.’
‘And don’t use any magic. It’ll shatter your cover.’
‘I know. I’m learning, you know. It might take me some time to find anything. Be patient, okay?’
‘I’ve been around a long time,’ Silhouette said. ‘I can wait for days if need be.’
‘Let’s hope that’s not necessary.’
He stepped back and flicked up his wards. Silhouette’s face fell as he vanished. ‘Come back to me!’ she called out again.
‘I will.’
He turned and trotted across the road, dodging between cars. As he walked past the Colosseum, he calmed his mind. If ever he needed his training in physical and mental control, he needed it now. So many lessons with his Sifu, the hours of training, of meditation. He centred his mind and his breath, drew the power of the Darak through his entire being and merged with it, locked down his wards and shields. Like a ghost, he slipped through the Kin’s secret door.
Silhouette made her way up to the gelataria, her mind a maelstrom. She pulled her phone out and dialled Joseph as she walked.
‘What news?’ he said gruffly.
She bit down on her annoyance at his rudeness. He was her Lord, after all. He’d saved her, and her mother. ‘Not much, I’m afraid. I think we’ve hit a dead end.’
‘That’s most unsatisfactory.’
‘I know, my Lord. I’m sorry.’
‘So perhaps I’ll come now,’ Joseph said.
‘Come here?’ Silhouette asked, surprised. ‘What for?’
Joseph’s voice became angry. ‘I will not allow a human to bear the Darak, Silhouette. The Eld made that stone. If two-thirds of it is all he can manage to recover, so be it. Two-thirds of it will be mine.’
‘But, my Lord, the book …’
‘Let me worry about the book, little one. This foolish game ends now.’
Silhouette took a grip on her panic, steeling herself. ‘Give it a little while longer, my Lord. Alex is investigating one last avenue and there’s a slim possibility he might turn something up.’
‘Don’t play with me, Silhouette!’
‘I’m not. Let him exhaust this last lead, at least. I’ll call you again as soon as I can and let you know what happens. It might be a while, but it seems a shame to let him get this far and then step in before the end.’
‘Earn your true place among us, child,’ Joseph said. ‘I’ll expect to hear from you soon.’ The line went dead.
Silhouette pocketed her phone, chewing her bottom lip. She went into the gelataria and ordered a strong coffee.
Alex’s first problem presented itself almost immediately. The heavy wooden door at the end of the p
assage was impenetrable. He could probably knock it down, but that would hardly be the way to start this incursion. He crouched in the corridor to wait. After ten minutes he began to wonder if it would be hours until someone showed up. As a sense of despair descended, the door clicked heavily and swung open. A Kin woman stepped out, talking to someone over her shoulder. The gap between her and the frame was thin. Alex didn’t take time to second guess. He dived forward, twisting in the air to slip through. His jacket brushed the woman’s legs as he landed inside and rolled. Without a pause he stood and moved several metres into the room, dropping down against the back of a large leather sofa. The Kin woman glanced down at her legs absently, not breaking her tirade about someone called Michael or Miguel. Another Kin stood inside, nodding her agreement. The moment passed, the women parted ways. Alex breathed a sigh of relief.
He concentrated on the magic of the Darak, kept his cloak total. He marvelled at his position, in the midst of a Kin Den, unseen. But however clever his newfound skills, they were useless if he couldn’t find any information. He crossed carefully to the wall and kept to the edges, staying intensely aware of his surroundings. He stalked through, searching, building a mental map of the place. Many doors were closed, doors he didn’t dare open. He logged all the dead ends for later investigation. Then luck turned his way. Not far from Lorenzo’s chambers was a library unlike anything he’d ever seen.
Alex had always been a fan of books, a voracious reader. Great works of fiction enthralled him, books containing all kinds of knowledge fascinated him. He had dreamed of a library of his own and had converted one room of his house into the closest thing he could manage. This stood beyond his wildest imagination.
The room was vast, ribbed columns supporting silver- and grey-flecked marble slabs across the ceiling into the distance. Dark wooden shelves stood in ordered row upon row. A mezzanine level ran a ring around the entire massive space, more shelves, more books. Alex stood mesmerised, breathing in the heady smell, intoxicated by it. He could see ’sign swirling around several shelves, all manner of grimoires and volumes less than mundane in rough groups here and there. Some of the shelving held things that seeped age, clearly ancient tomes, priceless and fascinating. Alex scanned from the shelter of one corner. If these Kin kept records, surely they would be somewhere in here.
